caulfield12

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jan 25, 2018 -> 06:31 PM) Reading the Twitter responses to the Brewers announcement, brought back some great prospect names. Mat Gamel and Matt LaPorta. I think LaPorta was in the CC trade, he was supposed to be a beast, he did completely nothing. LaFatta, as Ozzie called him. The fact that the Brewers are going to have one of the best NL teams this year, the Royals almost won two World Series in a row, the Astros have built up successfully from scratch (after having the worst t.v. and radio ratings in any market in history)...should give fans a lot of hope. Or the Padres having one of the best, if not the best, overall depth in their farm system of any team (of course, they've also gone the 2nd longest without a playoff appearance. Well, not Marlins' fans, for the near future. Not to mention the Yankees, Dodgers and Mets have won just one World Series going back to the late 1990's.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0125-story.html White Sox deserve a better radio partner

Rivera, Martinez and Mussina next year. Schilling’s politics are dooming his candidacy, unless there’s another reason to explain Muslims continuing to rise and Schilling going backwards when Schilling perhaps holds a slight advantage when stacked up side to side. A lot of people can’t understand why Rolen is getting much less support than Vizquel...as Rolen was clearly the better overall player during peak years.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 25, 2018 -> 09:52 AM) #socialism Weimar Republic Germany=Socialism too? Zimbabwe? Argentina? Big companies obviously earn a bit of goodwill by announcing moves that are good for workers. But there’s ordinarily a downside, since anything that raises labor costs alerts Wall Street analysts to the possibility of declining profits. And there are myriad instances of analysts dinging stocks when labor costs rise, which makes CEOs wary of ever raising pay unless business conditions require it. The Trump tax cuts provide a unique opportunity for companies to boost pay without getting punished by Wall Street. Big companies are just now beginning to estimate the net effects of the tax cuts, and so far, the forecast is for a roughly 8% jump in after-tax profits in 2018, according to Credit Suisse. That’s a big boost, and it gives CEOs plenty of wiggle room to address labor shortages and concerns about workers bolting for better-paying jobs. Even so, companies are being stingier than some of the cheerful PR suggests. A Yahoo Finance compilation of all the recently announced moves shows that most companies are offering one-time bonuses rather than permanent raises. That’s a lot cheaper than across-the-board pay hikes that permanently raise labor costs. “The bonuses are the most suspect because that’s a one-time hit, likely made up in the first year,” says David Nelson, chief strategist for investing firm Belpointe. “It’s different when you raise wages. You can’t take it back.” Companies may also be giving workers a lift now, because they see moves coming later this year, such as stock buybacks, that will primarily benefit shareholders. So bonuses and raises could be an effort by companies to inoculate themselves from criticism that their response to the tax cuts primarily benefits the wealthy. “We do not expect corporate tax cuts to lead to a meaningful boost in business investment,” Moody’s says in a recent report. The debt-rating firm expects companies to “prioritize activities such as share buybacks, M&A and paying down existing debt” instead. If Moody’s is right, then the Trump tax cuts won’t trickle down to workers over time in the form of sustained pay raises and broadly improving living standards. The biggest boon for workers could end up being the one-time windfall we’re seeing now. It’s better than nothing, but it doesn’t necessarily mean happy days are here again. Rick Newman, Yahoo.com

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Jan 25, 2018 -> 08:57 AM) As Jimmy Kimmel pointed out in his one monologue after the Vegas shooting, Democrats and Republics both vote against stricter gun laws. Feel that needs to be said here. And yet 90% of Americans wanted bump stocks outlawed...not exactly following the will of the people there.

2 white people killed...because they were part of a cute high school couple...tweet worthy, but it took him forever to make a definitive statement about Las Vegas, hoping there was a Muslim jihadist involved

Take Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, who is promoting the notion that a "secret society" within the FBI is conspiring against President Donald Trump. Appearing on Fox News Tuesday night, Johnson said that "an informant" had told him of this "secret society … holding secret meetings off-site." It was, he said, "evidence of corruption – more than bias but corruption at the highest levels of the FBI." No, seriously. He really is a sitting senator and chairman of an important committee. As The MaddowBlog's Steve Benen put it: "I suppose it's possible that life is like a Dan Brown novel and somewhere in the bowels of the Justice Department, there's a cabal of nefarious liberals who hatched a secret plot to undermine the president. Of course, if such a plot existed, there doesn't appear to be any evidence of it." Indeed, when Johnson floated this wild allegation Fox News host Bret Baier asked for elaboration, "Is there anything more about that?" and Johnson responded: "No, we have to dig into it. This is not a distraction." https://www.usnews.com/opinion/thomas-jeffe...ump?context=amp Republicans Go Full Illuminati http://theweek.com/articles/750337/republi...full-illuminati Why Donald Trump Will Be Very Welcome In Davos https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnis...elcome-in-davos

Izzo next...Bridges and Jackson to KY under hardship waivers.

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/doj-warns-house-i...topstories.html Devin Nunes cited for leaking purported secret memo on FBI...this is at least the second, if not the 3rd time he's done so...the House investigation is a complete sham at this point, and tainted to the point where they might as well just disband it and move forward in the Senate and with Mueller The DOJ and Justice Department don’t want the memo released. Who does? Donald Trump, Jr. and Russian bots, #releasethememo Of course, Nunes hasn’t even read the memo, only Trey Gowdy and Democrat Adam Schiff have...House Republicans actually voted unanimously against reading the underlying material. "We believe it would be extraordinarily reckless for the Committee to disclose such information publicly without giving the Department and the FBI the opportunity to review the memorandum and to advise the [committee] of the risk of harm to national security and to ongoing investigations that could come from the public release," a top Justice Department official wrote in a letter today to Rep. Devin Nunes, R-California. "Indeed, we do not understand why the Committee would possibly seek to disclose classified and law enforcement sensitive information without first consulting with the relevant members of the Intelligence Community." Last week, Nunes disclosed that his staff had drafted the memo, which was deemed classified but shared with other House members. It's not clear what the memorandum states or what information is contained within it, but the Justice Department letters suggests the Nunes memorandum ties alleged government surveillance of Trump associates to information first provided by the author of the infamous "dossier" alleging collusion between Trump aides and Russian operatives. Here’s a “positive/favorable” article for Rabbit to enjoy: The buffoon presidency? Davos elites learn to live with Trump The president will arrive in Switzerland to find global business leaders ready to welcome him — or at least to say he hasn’t been as bad as they thought he'd be. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/24/t...th-trump-367517

Didn't realize that Jimenez missed almost 50 games with how many bombs he was hitting in the 2nd half...

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 24, 2018 -> 01:00 PM) The Ricky Waters of baseball. Minus that he never got "married" to Ditka or was arguably one of the 2-3 best players in his sport, ooops....thought you were talking about Ricky Williams, haha. Watters from ND, mostly SF 49ers and Eagles fame.

You would think they would be smart enough not to spite the Red States...maybe they got confused with the Deep State? Deep South State? Yet Rep. Trey Gowdy was out there yesterday spouting his usual nonsense as if nothing happened. South Carolina, Home to New Samsung Factory, Is Disappointed by New Tariffs New plant hired 600 people and promised to expand in state that strongly supported Trump https://www.wsj.com/articles/south-carolina...&yptr=yahoo

Bad money: The worst contract investments on all 30 teams http://www.espn.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/...on-all-30-teams

QUOTE (ChiSoxJon @ Jan 24, 2018 -> 03:08 PM) As a Pats fan, we won't have to worry about this The success of the Patriots starts at the top with top level ownership in Kraft (not JR), and goes down to the timeless philosophy designed by Belichick This is something we'll never see in sports again Appreciate it while you can Alabama football?

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/24/germany-has...ells-davos.html Angela Merkel argues the current world order is under threat

Trump’s failing war on green power https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/24/t...en-power-307281 Since solar cells and panels make up only a fraction of a new solar system's costs, analysts expect the tariffs to bump up overall installed prices by 6 percent for residential rooftops and about 10 percent for utility-scale plants. Rocky Mountain Institute's own analysis says that the ongoing decline in solar installation costs will wipe out the price increases from the tariff in 18 months. ... The administration's most ambitious effort so far to tilt the scale in the direction of traditional fuels came from the Energy Department last fall, when Perry invoked a rarely used authority to press federal energy regulators to create a subsidy for a group of coal-fired and nuclear power plants in markets stretching from the Midwest to the East Coast. The move would have propped up plants that are struggling to survive in the face of rising natural gas and wind power. But Perry's proposal was rejected by all five members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, four of whom had been appointed by Trump. The independent agency said DOE's push for the rule wasn't justified by conditions in the power markets, though it agreed to study the issue. Energy experts said the preservation of the popular renewable energy tax credits and FERC's rejection of Perry's proposal exposed the limitations of the White House to force through Trump's campaign promises. "States have far more primacy over generation than the federal government does," said Timothy Fox, a vice president for ClearView Energy Partners. And with Monday's trade tariffs, "the president may have pulled on one of his few levers that influence renewable power build-out." Our own Jen Rogers asked Ross (at Davos) about setting off a trade war. His response: “Trade wars are fought every day. The difference [now] is the U.S. troops are coming to the rampart.” Colorful. Mnuchin created a bit of a stir when he stated that the weak dollar is “good for the U.S.” The dynamic duo—Mnuchin and Ross—promised a press conference every morning. Can’t wait. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/team-trump-p...-142442369.html The 1% grabbed 82% of all global wealth created in 2017 http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/21/news/econo...alth/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/24/politics/mee...ysis/index.html PA GOP Rep Meehan (not sure exactly how to characterize this one)

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 23, 2018 -> 04:49 PM) Melania not going to Davos.Scheduling and logistical issues. I would imagine the logistical issue is being within 5 feet of her husband. And it’s their anniversary too this week...despite the WH trying to take the focus off their marriage after the Trumpy Storm Daniels.

22 separate death threats to CNN employees/switchboard called in by 19 year old Michigan man Fake news. I’m coming to gun you all down. F*** you, f*****’ n******.” Griesemer reportedly called CNN once more only three minutes after that call, once again making threats. “I’m on my way right now to gun the f*****’ CNN cast down. F*** you.” When the CNN operator requested his name, Brandon allegedly threatened the life of the operator directly. F*** you. I am coming to kill you.” https://www.inquisitr.com/4750510/brandon-r...+Search+Results Journalists Raise Concerns About ‘Fake News’ Rhetoric After Man’s Arrest for Threats to CNN http://variety.com/2018/politics/news/trum...cnn-1202673974/

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-wo...kushpmg00000009

QUOTE (BrianAnderson @ Jan 22, 2018 -> 09:11 AM) You can't cherry pick a few months here and there. If you did that you could cherry pick Fulmer's 4 good starts. I just go by what I've seen over time and to me? That's a very average SS. Maybe he puts it together, but I think its more likely at this point that by 2020-2022 when we are hopefully really pushing for a WS that Anderson will either be a bench piece, not on the team, or our #9 hitter and the weakest link on the team. Just my opinion. Nothing makes me more or less qualified than you and your opinion - just don't think Anderson is a "special" player. Well, there's three pieces of information to consider: 1) Anderson's 2016 season 2) The death of his best friend and his reaction in the 1st half to that event 3) A marked increase in his offensive numbers and significant improvement on the defensive side (still led MLB in errors at SS, overall) He could be the next Mike Caruso, for all we know...but, for us to really be a strong playoff team, we can't keep going out and replacing all the positions on the field with veteran FA's at 3B (Machado, Donaldson, Arenado), SS (Andrus this year) and catcher. It doesn't really matter what we think, because he's going to have all of 2018 to play and probably half of the 2019 season as well before they would even consider moving to another option. There are also zero candidates, other than Leury Garcia, to replace him. Saladino and Yolmer would be stopgaps.

Well, the Nats desperately need him for this year...and also to "sell" Harper, if they have any chance at all, on staying in the Washington market.

https://www.engadget.com/2018/01/23/trump-3...ffs-job-losses/ Trump's new solar tariffs could kill 23,000 US jobs There are two widely diverging scenarios (if you're on the left or right) to follow: Point #1, With only 38,000 workers currently MANUFACTURING solar panels in the US (out of 374,000 in the total solar industry), how many new jobs will be added, and at what cost in terms of the final product delivered to consumers? Will the higher prices (due to US manufacturing) be offset by relatively higher quality? How quickly can US manufacturing ramp up and meet the demand? What about the thousands of jobs in solar-related industries that will be hit by higher costs of doing business (hurting our domestic consumption and potentially export competitiveness)...how many job losses there (according to one study, 23,000)? Point #2, why are we trying to start a trade war with South Korea over LG and Samsung appliances like washing machines when we need them as a partner against North Korea? Is this to have increased leverage over their president...? Point 3#, how do China and South Korea retaliate in this trade war against the US in ways that pass on higher prices to consumers?

As far as Trae Young goes...he's definitely grown up in the last two games and learned how to be more unselfish. Against OkState down the stretch, he was dribbling into double and triple teams and firing up quick shots (one of the quickest releases since Dan Marino, haha) from 25-30 feet there at the end of the game (as well as in the first half). That's not the way to be a winning player...against KU, he started looking to get his teammates more and more involved, which is the ONLY way Oklahoma can be a Top 10 team. Otherwise, everyone's just standing around waiting for him to launch or dribble penetrate. His assist and rebound numbers have been outstanding (granted, they're a high scoring team, like Loyola Marymount back in the day)...but the turnovers really crept in against WV, K-State and OSU. On defense, he's got a long ways to go, but his father was a strong defender at Texas Tech under Knight and I think he's definitely a coachable kid. It's hard for anyone who averages 40-45 points in high school not to focus first on their offensive game, it's just human nature.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jan 23, 2018 -> 03:42 PM) It feels weird, but I literally don't have a bad thing to say about Hoiberg right now. I've came to the realization that with the team of personalities we had and with the switch and how we switched from Thibs that pretty much any coach (outside of a really proven champion such as Phil or Pop) would have failed. It just wasn't feasible. An unproven NBA coach wasn't going to get that ship right and deal with what had to be done. This year, with Fred being given a blank slate (from a personality perspective) it has enabled him to get buy in from top-to-bottom and truly implement his scheme, etc. We finally get to see him actually coach. I will admit part of a coaches job is to adapt but I think I downplayed just how bad of a situation Fred was put in (and that isn't Fred's fault). Amazing what a year makes since I became pretty anti Hoiberg very early in his coaching tenure (to now have a 180). While I absolve Fred of the past two years, I don't necessarily absolve the front office because they should have had that level of awareness. Realistically, you'd have to have the NBA equivalent of Robin Ventura/Renteria coaches who fill the transition but probably aren't the ones to take you to the promised land. The other interesting thing to note is that Luke Walton is from that same generation of "youngish" coaches who grew up around the game, learned under Steve Kerr...and is having, at the very least, his own set of struggles in LA despite DeAngelo Russell being removed from that situation. Just like the Bulls, you have all those players like Julius Randle that are in "no man's land" in terms of waiting to see where they'll end up but still playing out the string. When all those players are veterans, it can make for a really toxic environment, especially when the veterans are getting pushed aside to give playing times to youngsters since those vets are going to end up on another team. Then you have Jordan Clarkson, Nance, Jr., and the Luol Deng contract mess, that might get in the way of making offers to both Paul George and LBJ. When you have 4 players in limbo like that, and you're not competing for the playoffs but draft position, it can be impossible for nearly any coach...then you add the ego of the Ball Family into the mix, and undercutting every single coach they've ever been involved with when things don't go their way.